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Mordak was silent as he stepped through the door of the tavern, a chime on the door signaling the orc's entrance. He threw back the hood of his cloak as he slowly strode in, revealing the dark, olive green countenance that characterized his kin. He glanced around casually as he went to take a seat before the bar, taking in his surroundings.

The tavern was very much the typical middle class establishment one would expect to find in the city of Del Matezra. It was not extremely fancy, but the orc had been in worse places before. It was clean, with wooden boards on the floor and walls, lit by glow spheres, not quite as romantic as candles, but more cost effective since they needed to be replaced much less often, the crystalline spheres casting a mystical orange glow about the place. A small band played a lively tune in one shadowed corner, and the establishment was filled with the chatter of patrons of mixed races.

Mordak needed only a moment to locate the person he was looking for, a human in his thirties, clad in a black coat, he matched the portrait which the orc had been shown perfectly. The one unusual feature about him was that he wore a white glove on his left hand, but left the right bare, but Mordak knew better than to judge this man by his appearance. He was a criminal, and one with a rather large price on his head. Many had tried to claim that bounty before, the green skinned man knew, but he was sure that he would succeed where they had failed.

However, he would not make his move here, it was too crowded, too much risk of causing collateral damage, and he was always careful to avoid that when he worked. For now, the orc would simply watch him, and try not to raise too much suspicion in the process. He called the barkeep over, and ordered a light drink, it would be the only one he would drink right now. He needed to keep up a natural appearance here, but at the same time, he did not want to drink too much, lest it affect his judgment in what must follow.

Mordak sipped the drink as he waited for the man to make his move. He had done this many times before, and he knew it would be simple. He just needed to wait until the target left, than follow him, when he was in a secluded place, the orc would make his move.

He did not have to wait long before the man got up, and soon left the tavern, the orc paid for his drink, and followed shortly afterwards, his cloak bellowing in Del Matzera's strong winds as he once again left the shelter of the tavern. Del Matezra was a large city, its streets filled with people and auto-wagons even at this late hour, and flyers cut across the skies above, held aloft by levitation enchantments, intricate glyphs and diagrams that seemed to be formed of pure light glowing a bright green on their undersides, like strange glowing birds of some sort prowling the night sky. All about the city, great towers of stone, metal or crystal rose unto the sky. Bright lights burned all around, some chemical, some mystical. The ancient city was a great melting pot of many cultures, and over the years, the work of many great architects, scientists and craft-mages had helped make it what it was now, and to all whom called it home, it seemed like it would stand forever as a monument to the works of men.

That is the attractive side of the city, but like all places where so many living souls gather, it was not all so awe inspiring. , it also held deep shadows where criminals lurk, hiding from those who would bring judgment to them, secretly conducting their unsavory business, or moving to the next target of their greed, or secluded corners where the poor and destitute seek some wretched excuse for shelter. The place to which Mordak followed the man was such an unpleasant place, an alley in the shadow of two dreary old stone buildings, both of which looked quite deserted. It was dirty, and cast in shadow. He drew the concealed mystic cannon at his side out as he approached cautiously.

The mystic cannon was another example of modern magic technology. Based on the principle of using a powerful kinetic spell to fire a solid projectile out of the barrel, and it was quite capable of bringing death to those unfortunate enough to become the target of its wielder. varying in size from ones large enough to be used to besiege cities to small enough to be carried by hand, this was of course one of the latter. Mordak held it by the wooden grip, the glyphs carved into its metal barrel pulsed with blue light for a moment, signaling that the enchantment placed on it was active, and he had already loaded it before hand, all it took was to pull the trigger, and it would fire.

"I know you're following me." The criminal said then, turning around, and facing the orc "So, what brings you here?"

"I'm here to bring you to justice." Mordak responded, raising the mystic cannon to point it at his target "Now come with me, and you won't be harmed. Refuse, and I think you know what I'll have to do, you understand?" His tone was perfectly calm, and he spoke with the inflection of one who meant every word he said, and would kill if it was necessary to achieve his goal, he knew he may have to do so now.

"Ah, but others have tried to take me in as well, and all of them are dead," The criminal answered "So what makes you think you'll end up any different from them? Why should I fear you?"

Mordak tensed, ready to move if he should need to fight, he had hoped that he could take this one alive, but from the response, he was beginning to doubt that would be an option "It seems you have a death wish," he said "One way or another, I'm putting an end to your crimes, but how I do that is up to you, we can both walk away from this alive if you cooperate, if you don't, one of us will die here, and it won't be me."

"We'll see about that. Now, if my choices are to rot in prison, or take my chances in a fight with you, I think I'll go with the latter." Hearing this, Mordak fired, the engravings on the barrel of the mystic cannon flashed as the magic in it propelled the projectile out, but the enemy reacted quickly when his opponent prepared to fire, moving quickly to the side, the projectile striking his right arm. Instead of impacting flesh and drawing blood, the projectile simply bounced off with the sound of metal striking metal. A hole was torn in the cloth, the metallic surface beneath, however, merely showed a dent and scratch.

The man's arm changed then, tearing the sleeve apart as metal plates shifted, reshaping the appendage. What once had been a mechanical arm soon changed into a mystical cannon, Mordak quickly ducked behind a large waste disposal bin, knowing that this would soon get difficult, evading the ball of blue light that was fired from the cannon, which hit the wall behind where he had once be and left a hole in the surface.

The opponent also took cover, getting behind the low brick wall next to the entrance of an abandoned building. The orc peered out from cover and fired off several more rounds, which missed their intended target, and were answered with another blast of eldritch energy.

The two exchanged fire several more times, though the repeated shots left dents and holes in the objects that served as their cover, neither one was able to land a shot on his enemy. This was until Mordak's weapon failed to fire, indicating that it was empty, he ducked back behind the waste disposal, sliding out the now empty cylinder that would normally house his ammunition. He noticed his opponent exit from cover, seemingly intent on exploiting this moment of vulnerability. His arm shifted again, rearranging itself into a blade, its edge beginning to glow a bright blue, the orc decided to change his tactics, and holstered his weapon, and drew a dagger at his side, not an impressive weapon compared to the arm blade his opponent used, certainly, but his opponent doubtless felt the same, and he would use that to his advantage.

The man with the metal arm came over, and slashed at Mordak in a broad arc, but he avoided the blow by ducking. The blade sailed over his head, its end contacted the waste disposal and easily cut through it. The man attacked again, and again, but his opponent was able to avoid the subsequent blows as well.

"You can't keep dodging forever." The criminal said, Mordak did not answer.

Another missed strike, and the bounty hunter saw his chance, he surprised his foe with a rapid kick to the knee, causing him to stagger back and groan in pain. In what followed next, the orc knew he needed to be quick, but precise, with one rapid move, he threw the dagger, and it lodged into man's left shoulder, just before the point where flesh ended and metal began, the criminal uttered a cry of intense pain, and stepped back, clutching at his wounded shoulder.

The foe's eyes narrowed and his teeth gritted as he tried to resist the pain, the metal arm growing limp, and the blue glow disappearing from its edge.

"You're not the first person I've faced with artificial limbs, I know where you're vulnerable." Mordak said "Now, you pay for your crimes." He held the mystic cannon, and reloaded it, then he fired, the criminal had a chance to utter a quick curse in his last breath.

The man collapsed, blood quickly spreading from the new hole in his head, and Mordak bent down, rooting through the front of his coat until he found what he sought, a silver pendant with a distinct inscription on it. It would serve as proof that the target was dead nicely, as it was known that he would never have parted with that heirloom willingly, and that was what Mordak needed now.

He was about to leave when a strange sight stopped him in his tracks, glowing glyphs appeared on the ground, accompanied by a strange ethereal noise that was not quite a hum but could not be described rightly in any other way either. The air above them distorted, and then, men appeared above each, the glow of the complex glyphs fading, leaving them seemingly burned into the pavement. There were five men in total, each one glad in a white robe, with a golden band running down the front, characters in some strange script written upon it, and covered his face with a cowl that matched the robe, preventing Mordak from seeing the expression on their faces.

"Who are you, and what the hell do you want with me?" the orc demanded, clearly rather annoyed by the sudden interruption.

"Mordak Gelm Mezu," the one who stood in the center of their formation said "The time has come that you must die." Mordak was motionless for a moment, surprised that this stranger seemed familiar with him.

The speaker than motioned to the orc, and each of his followers reached to his side, drawing an ornate sword from its sheath "Kill him!" the man shouted, and the robed figures moved, their advance was slow, and Mordak decided they would be easy targets, and was tempted to laugh at their foolishness in trying to use swords against him, aiming the mystic cannon at one of them, he fired.

There was no flaw in the orc's aim, and the man made no effort to dodge, and yet the shot did nothing. The bullet came to a stop as it struck some form of invisible barrier, and fell to the ground harmlessly.

"Damn!" the orc cursed, slowly backing away from the advancing men, and fired off several more shots, all of them proving no more effective than the last one.

The bounty hunter was no fool, he knew that there were times when the best course of action was to simply turn around, and run the other time, and he decided this was such a time. He fled as fast as he could from the attackers, but they followed, increasing the speed of their movements to keep up with him.

Mordak reached the end of the alley, and turned a corner, which to his dismay, led to a dead end. A high brick wall stood before him, he would not be able to climb it, and when he turned around, and saw his foes were already closing in. He realized running would not work right now.

"I don't know who you people are or why you're after me," he said to them "But know this, I won't have them say I went down without a fight, now, let's settle this." When he spoke, they stopped in their tracks, seeming to have decided to give him time to finish his sentence. This would normally have been a foolish move, but here, it seemed more likely to be a sign of their confidence in their own victory. Once the orc had finished the short speech, the leader stepped forward.

"Do you have any more last words to say?" he asked, when there was no response, he rushed at the orc, and struck with his sword, Mordak was able to dodge the blow, and quickly fired a shot from point blank range, yet was not able to harm his enemy anymore than before. Then the others came at him as well, and as much as he tried to evade their attacks, there were too many of them to dodge them all, and he found himself getting hit by several blows, each strike that dug into his flesh bringing a sharp pain too him.

Orcs were generally tough, and Mordak was no exception, and yet he still had his limits, something he understood better than anyone else. And he feared that now, he may have reached them, he discarded the mystic cannon, now using his dagger to fight back. He put up a good fight, at one point, he was even sure he had managed to get through whatever metaphysical barrier protected one of the men, and injure him, but even so, he soon found the loss of blood draining away his strength, his movements slowed, and the enemies hit him more and more times. Finally, he collapsed to the ground, unable to hold himself up any longer, feeling his strength seep away, he wondered what sort of world awaited him beyond death. There were so many different visions of that, but he had never really given which one he should believe much thought, then he decided it did not matter. Just before consciousness was lost, he thought he saw some glowing object in the sky through his blurred vision, and some fiery projectile appeared to launch from it, then the image faded along with all awareness.

Mordak awoke to find himself in a place that was not the alley. No longer was he in the dirt, cold street, rather, he seemed to be in a bed, a soft mattress below him and a warm blanket on top. Judging from the way the fabric touched his bare skin, he seemed to have been stripped of much of his clothes. The only scent that came to his nose was a sterile smell too much like a hospital for comfort.

He opened his eyes, and saw a metal ceiling above him, then he sat up, the blanket falling away to reveal his bare chest. He looked around, the room did in fact look like some infirmary, with shelves and tables filled with medical implements and various medicines, and anatomy charts lining the walls. He also saw the mirror against one wall. The orc stood up, feeling no pain from his wounds as he moved, and walked over to it, inspecting his reflection. His muscular form was covered only by his undergarments, leaving his legs, arms and dark haired chest bare. His wounds were gone, yet there were several new scars to prove that they had been real. He did not think he could have been unconscious long enough for them to have healed naturally.

When he finished inspecting himself, the orc looked around, seeing a portal in the metal wall to one side of the room, he went to it, and looked out of the round opening, outside was what looked to be a large forest clearing, the sun was shining, and it looked to be late morning outside, he could see the towers of the city rising above the forest, and these matched the buildings of Del Matezra, he was outside the city, but could not be too far.

The silence in the room was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, and Mordak quickly turned around to face whoever it was who came in. He saw a tall figure, his form, though covered in white fur, seemed more reptilian than mammalian, with a long thick tail swaying behind him and a blunt, lizard-like snout. His head was adorned by sharp spines of a shiny black material. Rather than clawed reptilian feet, his legs ended in cloven hooves. He wore only a loincloth for clothing, exposing a slender, lightly muscled body. Around his neck he wore a necklace made of gold plates held together by a chain of the same material. Though Mordak had seen few of his kind, the orc recognized him as one of the breeds of demons that inhabited the world.

The orc narrowed his eyes, not trusting this strange demon who stood there when he found himself in these unfamiliar surroundings "Who are you? And where is this?" he demanded.

"My name is Zu Gaza Zerim," he responded calmly, seemingly unfazed by the rude tone in the orc's voice "But you may call me Gaza, and we are onboard my flyer. It is good to see you seem to be feeling better now. You were hurt pretty badly when we found you," he shook his head "If we had come later, I fear it would have been too late to save you, but thankfully, I was able to heal your wounds."

"Well, I suppose I should thank you for that," Mordak said, calming slightly, but still not ready to fully trust the demon, even in the best of times, he would be slow to trust a demon, and the circumstances of their meeting did not really make him feel more inclined to be trusting "But now I have a third question, why did you save me? Is there something you want from me? Or did you just do it out of the goodness of your heart?" he said that last part with a hint of sarcasm.

"Had I just stumbled across you in need, I'd have helped you." Gaza said, a slightly indignant tone coming to his voice at the other's implication "But in this case, there's more to it then that, I did save you for a specific reason, but I think there's another person who could explain it better than me, if you'll please come with me."

"Well, it doesn't look like there's much else to do now, so I suppose I'll do that, but first, do you have anything I could wear? I'd prefer not to be walking around in my underwear like this."

The demon nodded "There's a robe I prepared for you in the chest at the foot of you're bed, you'll also find some of your belongings we recovered in there. I'm sorry to say that you're clothes were rather torn up after the injuries you received, and they're in no condition to be worn, so you'll have to make do with what I can provide."

The orc went over to the chest that was indicated, and bent down to open the top, sure enough, he found a neatly folded white robe within, as well as some of the items that he had been carrying before he passed out in the alley. Among then was the pendant he had taken from his target, and he also noted his mystic cannon and the ammunition for it. The fact that Gaza had let him have it back was likely a good sign. If he were in truth an enemy, he would have been foolish to let Mordak have his weapon, unless of course he was confident that the orc could not threaten him even when armed, a possibility that Mordak would rather not consider.

Once the orc was dressed, Gaza led him out of the room, and through a small metal hallway, with doors arranged on either side tightly packed together. As the demon walked in front of them, Mordak took a moment to admire the sway of Gaza's hips and tail, it was, he decided, an attractive sight, given the circumstances, though, he thought it best to keep it to looking, at least at the time.

They arrived in a small room, with chairs arranged around a table. One of these was occupied by a slender figure resembling a raven, clad in a robe that matched the black of his feathers, he was the only person in the room other than Mordak and Gaza.

"Ah, it is good to say that you are awake and well, Mordak Gelm Mezu." The avian said, fixing a pair of rather striking golden eyes on the orc "I was quite worried about your safety when we found you, but Gaza assured me that you could still be saved if we acted quickly." He glanced to the demon for a moment when he spoke, then looked back to the orc "I assume you are feeling good now?"

"Why yes, I am. But I came here to hear explanations, not your concern, so what's your business with me?"

"Yes, you want answers, I understand that." The raven responded "And I will explain, so please, sit down, and listen." When the orc took a seat opposite from him, Gaza taking one beside the green skinned humanoid, the bird continued "Before I tell you anything more, Hunter, I must ask, do you believe in prophecy?"

"That's not something I've really had much reason to think about." Mordak answered "I wouldn't say I don't believe in them at all, but things like prophecies and gods always seemed so distant to me, I can't see them having a major effect on my life, so why should I worry about them, when I have other, more pressing concerns?" He spoke truthfully, seeing no reason to hide his opinion on such matters "Why? Are you trying to imply that you saved me because of a prophecy?"

"I see that you are a quick thinker, dear Mordak. Yes, I was guided by a prophecy to find you, and save you. With the help of Gaza, of course, it would not have been possible without him." He nodded to the demon, who simply shook his head.

"That may be true, but without your guidance, friend, I would have not known what to do, or even that I must do it."

"Yes, that is true, of course." The raven said "You were guided by my prophecies, and chose the right path, as I hope Mordak here will do as well." He turned his gaze back to the orc, his eyes seeming to gaze into his very soul "Yes, I hope you too will follow the guidance of prophecy, as I always have and Gaza has chosen to as well. For you see, I am a Speaker, and like all my kin, I have always relied on the gift of prophecy to find and walk the path that will lead to the best course of the future, and it is my duty to use it to guide others as well."

The bounty hunters eyes narrowed at that "That's a likely story." He said sarcastically, he knew what the Speakers were, of course, few did not, for in ancient times, rulers from across the world would seek their council, they were a mysterious group of people that went as far back as recorded history, possessing the ability to foretell future events, but the last Speaker had died two centuries ago, all records agreed on that "The Speakers are all dead, how could one be alive here now?"

"Ah, yes, that is what you have been told, but surely, you are wise enough to know not to believe all that you hear? It was no lie that my kind were all dead, at least, not a deliberate one. For as far as the world knew, we were extinct, but what everyone did not realize was that some of us survived in hidden places, for we had foreseen our own destruction, and took precautions to ensure it would not be total. Now I ask you, are you familiar with the circumstances of our supposed extinction?"

"No, I don't know that, and I also don't know what this has to do with why you saved me. Now, are you going to tell me what all this is about, or am I going to have to force it out of you?" the orc's impatience was plainly obvious in his tone. He managed to resist the temptation to draw his mystic cannon, but his patience was growing thin. At the obvious frustration, the raven sighed.

"Such impatience, young orc." The self proclaimed speaker said "Very well, I suppose history can wait, for now, I will answer you're question. But to understand my answer, you must know about the final prophecy that we delivered before our supposed destruction."

"Fine, then, get on with it." Mordak said, placing both hands on the table. It sounded like he was not going to get his answer until he heard it, so he supposed he would just let the raven say it "I'm grateful you saved me and all, but I'm about ready to get some answers."

"Very well." He began "'In the age of magic and metal, there will come a day when a great, all consuming darkness shall sweep across the land. Blotting out the greatest achievements of men. Before it, armies fall and lords grovel and beg for mercy, but all wither and are no more before the Poison that brings the Death of Worlds.

"'But even in the darkest depths of despair, the light of hope may yet shine. By the hands of heroes, the chains of fate may be broken, and the tide may be driven back. The road is paved by those who see but it must be walked by the blind ones. It falls upon the chosen to decide the fate of the world.' Thus they spoke, but I have had a new vision which revealed things they did not know. I have learned more details about the events spoken of in the prophecy. Chiefly, I have learned that you are among those who may put an end to the predicted crisis, as is Gaza."

Mordak's eyes narrowed on the bird. He spoke as though he truly believed what he said to be true, but how could it be? Even if there was any truth to the whole doomsday prophecy thing, the orc could not believe the claim that he was someone who had the power to stop it. And yet somehow, he felt like he could not just ignore this either, there was something about the whole thing that compelled him to look further, even if it seemed foolish to do so.

"That sounds hard to believe," he said "But what are you expecting me to do? The prophecy says that armies fall before this enemy, if that's the case, how can we stand against it alone?"

"What must be done you will learn when the time comes, for now, you only need to know that the prophecy has lead to you, and that means that you can do what must be done, sometimes, the actions of one man can make all the difference in the world. As to what I expect of you, what you do is your own choice to make. If what I say sounds like truth to you, than I ask that you accompany us, and help us destroy the Poison, but if you do not believe, then you may walk away, we will continue fighting as best we can without you, and perhaps we will still succeed, for the future is not yet decided, and therefore, even the prophecies of the Speakers can show only possible futures, there are no guarantees, but my prescience has revealed which individuals we will need to have the best chance of winning, and you are among them."

"I doubted him at first too." Gaza interjected, his green eyes fixed upon the orc's own "But I have seen the truth of his words, I think the fact that his prophecies led us to you is good evidence of the truth of his words."

The bounty hunter nodded to the demon's words, finding that hearing him support the Speaker's words somehow made them seem more plausible. A voice told him in the back of his mind that the demon could be deceiving him, perhaps it was his job to make the raven's claim sound more convincing, but he chose ignored it. He felt like he had to find out what this was about, perhaps some day, he would regret such curiosity, but for now, he decided he could not simply walk away without seeing where this would lead.

"Alright, let's assume that if I did accept what you're asking of me, what would be the plan then?"

"Naturally, you would travel with us." The raven stated "In time, you would need to fight the Poison itself, but it has not yet arrived in the world, and I am not sure when it will, so first, we will need to prepare for that time. And gather the others foretold in the prophecy."

The orc nodded, it sounded straightforward enough, though if the Speaker's claims were true, he was sure there would be complications along the way that he did not mention "I'd also like to know about the men who attacked me. Do they have anything to do with this? If there are people who want me dead, I'd like to know who they are and whether I can expect to meet them again, especially if my weapons won't work on them." He was not sure if these people would know or not, but he had a suspicion that the robed men had some connection to this, so he thought it worth asking about.

"Ah," it was Gaza who spoke this time "Those would be the mortal servants of the Poison. I encountered them too before I met the Speaker, though I don't know many details about them. What I do know is that they appear to be some sort of cult, but I don't know much about they're teachings. I also know that they use powerful magic. Most likely, the reason you could not harm them was because they used some form of defensive spell, but I should be able to enchant you're bullets so they can better pierce mystic shields. And you will need that, I think, as its' quite probable that they'll interfere with our mission further in the future. It can be assumed that they attacked you in the hopes that they would prevent you from becoming a problem later on, and it seems likely that they will try to again."

"Yes, it appears that is what they are," the speaker agreed "though how they learned of our involvement in what is to come, I do not know. Whatever the case, we have answered you're questions, Mordak, now, what is you're decision? Or do you have more questions you want to ask?"

"No, I think that's enough questions for now." The orc answered "As for my decision..." he paused, knowing that what he was about to say was very important, perhaps it was the most important decision he had made in his life, and he truly hoped that the decision he made would not be the wrong one, for if it was, he was sure the consequences would be great "I will join you, I will help you fight this Poison or whatever you want to call it." It sounded absurd, he knew. He had every reason not to believe those two strangers, and yet somehow, he felt that he could not ignore what they said. If the Speaker felt any surprise at the answer, he did not show it. As to the demon, his eyes widened somewhat in surprise, but at the same time, there was a smile on his face.

"Good!" Gaza said perhaps a little too excitedly "I look forward to a great future together for us." At the time, Mordak could not have known just how much there was to look forward to, and found the demons enthusiasm slightly baffling "Now, why don't we go eat? There's a lot of work ahead of us, and no sense tackling it all on an empty stomach."

"That's true," the Speaker said "I certainly have no objections to that idea."

The orc's eyes brightened at the mention of food, he was quite hungry, having been ignoring it since he awoke, and if offered food now, he could refuse. Of course, he still had many questions he would like to have answered, but those could wait, he was willing to set aside some time for eating "Sure, let's do that."

And with that final agreement, the three got up to find something to eat. It was but the first of many meals Mordak would share with the two strangers who had so unexpectedly come into his life, and if what they told him was true, the amount of mouths to feed could only grow, but that would be addressed when the time came, for this was only the beginning of a greater journey.